This particularly joyous practice was distinctly non-vegetarian, but it also wasn't confined to the Romans or Greeks, though they put their own special spin on it. Finding details about the future in natural phenomena was a pretty standard part of many ancient civilizations, as was throwing bones or sticks to "read" what they said.

The Romans in particular did it grandly, though. They had state-sponsored entrail readers, called augurs (hence where we get the phrase "it augurs well" when signs are good). They divined the gods' opinion about big plans from all kinds of things, from the weather to the movement of bird flocks, but on big occasions, they'd consult a "haruspex," a person trained to inspect the entrails of sacrificed animals. A haruspex warned Caesar about the Ides Of March; you ignored these people at your peril. 

CURSED NUMBER (CHINA)

In China the number 4 brings bad luck, as the word for 'four' in Chinese sounds similar to the word for 'death 

Another Roman superstition for our books, this one from the writer Theophrastus I've mentioned before. He recorded a lot of superstitions, but mostly as a way of making fun of the people who did them so rigorously — because, it seemed to him, worrying so much about omens didn't leave you a lot of time to, you know, do anything.

In ancient Rome, epileptics and people with mental illness weren't treated particularly well — and if you saw one, your immediate superstitious response was to spit on yourself, to prevent the "contagion" spreading to you. How this was supposed to work remains unclear. 

SCISSORS (EGYPT)

Handling scissors when you aren't cutting anything is a symbol for bad luck, as is leaving a pair of scissors open. 

Sheena

Got a ginger friend? Be prepared to leap into the crematorium at their death; their ashes are going to give your fields a mighty boost. Although they'll also have been offered as human sacrifices to Osiris first, so they may not be that keen.

Redheads didn't have too much of a good rap in ancient Egypt, where this superstition came from — at least according to the Malleus Malleficarum, a medieval book about witches. So maybe take it with a grain of salt. The general idea? Redheads, once they'd been sacrificed, would be burned and then spread over fields, and their ashes would guarantee a very good harvest. 

n Elizabethan superstition, this one may have just been about trying to use the phenomenal amount of people hanged or drowned for various offences. Elizabeth might look pretty staid and calm in her pictures, but do something wrong in her reign and you ended up having a pretty bloody death.

The superstition went that good luck would ensue if you managed to break through the melee that often surrounded public hangings and actually touch the body of the condemned person. (If they didn't kick you first, which frankly I think is fair enough.) 

TALKING AT THE SAME TIME (GREECE)

Greeks have a superstition that if one person talks at the same time as another, the members of the conversation must touch something red. 

Sheena

Back to the Romans for this one, and actually a fairly famous superstition at that. We know about it because of an anecdote from the naval Battle of Drepana in 249 BC, between the Romans and their enemies the Carthaginians. It involves a recalcitrant chicken, an unhappy general, and a very bad joke.

Roman battleships kept sacred chickens on board to check whether they'd win battles or not. If the chickens pecked at the cake they were offered, the Romans would win the day; if not, they'd lose. The general in charge, Claudius Pulcher, was reportedly infuriated when the chicken wouldn't eat, and threw it overboard, saying that if it didn't eat, "it could drink instead". They lost the battle. 

Never place your chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice when visiting Japan. This formation is eerily similar to the formation of incense burning at a Japanese funeral, and is therefore seen as a symbol of misfortune.

Sheena

 In South Korea, people believe that running a fan in a closed room while sleeping will kill you. But while the superstition became an Internet sensation, in South Korea, it’s no laughing matter 

Christina

This is one of the oldest superstitions in the book. Primarily heard at wedding ceremonies, this rhyme is said to bring good fortune upon those getting married.

Sheena

 for the superstition range from the practicalities of wielding sharp things near your hand at night, to concern that separating a nail in the darkness could attract spirits.

21. IN SOME MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES  Holly